Every Sunday afternoon, before I make my weekly trek to the grocery store, I ask Robert what he wants to eat that week. And every Sunday afternoon, Robert tells me the same three things: stuffed mushrooms, Salad with fish on top, That stuff in a bowl. 9 times out of 10, I take exactly 0 of those three suggestions. Why? Well for starters, Robert doesn’t really like my stuffed mushrooms. He forgets this, and then when reminded he admits that “yeah, he isn’t really sure why he always suggests them, they are just the first thing that pop into his head.” I burnt both of us out on salads with grilled fish on top last summer, so that is usually out too.

His saving grace, when it comes to meal suggestions, is definitely “that stuff in a bowl”. It is MUCH tastier than my stuffed mushrooms and Robert truly does love it, so it makes a somewhat regular appearance on our dinner table during the cooler months. It has a few too many ingredients to come up with a comprehensive name, so we’ll go with savory fall hash…unless of course you want to just call it “that stuff in a bowl”. Whatever works.

The recipe itself is quite easy, but there is a lot of prep work involved. Chopping, chopping, chopping.  You could buy pre-cooked and crumbled sausage, already diced onions and pre-chopped butternut squash and make your life much easier. Or maybe you’re one of those people that finds chopping vegetables cathartic and prefer to do it all yourself. I’m not really into veggie chopping for relaxation but I’ll remain a DIY girl until my local Publix figures out the pre-diced squash bit. Whatever you fancy, the end result really is worth it.

I think what makes this recipe so delicious is that it hits every flavor profile. The spinach and onion make it earthy. The butternut squash and apple make it slightly sweet. The sausage makes it savory and salty. It also has every texture you could want. The wild rice is nutty and a little chewy, the roasted squash is buttery soft and the apples remain cool and crisp since they aren’t added until the end. The descriptions are endless, which I suppose is why Robert settles for ‘that stuff in the bowl’ 😉

Last weekend was filled with friend’s birthday celebrations and the weekend before that we were in Clemson for the game (Go Tigers!).

This weekend my parents and sister will be stopping in on their way up to my sweet grandparents for Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to see them and am planning on greeting them with a big pot of my favorite chili when they get in on Friday! Hope everyone has a fantastic week! Go make fall hash!

Savory Fall Hash

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced

1 lb Sausage

3 Cups Spinach (or Kale)

1 medium Onion, Diced

1/2 Cup Wild Rice, cooked

1/2 Sweet Apple, diced (Honeycrisps are my go to, but use what you like)

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. In a bowl, combine cubed and peeled squash with 1 tbsp. olive oil and salt and pepper, toss until coated evenly.
2. Spread squash evenly over a foil lined baking sheet and bake 30 minutes, turning occasionally. *This step (plus all chopping) can be done a day in advance, also a time saver!
3. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Brown and drain your sausage.
4. While sausage cooks, Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil, add rice, turn down heat and cook until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat.
5. Once sausage is cooked through, remove from pan. Grease should remain in pan. Add onion, season with salt and pepper and cook until translucent.
6. Add Spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until just wilted.
7. Add sausage, squash and wild rice to pan and cook until all ingredients are heated through, stirring often.
8. Remove from heat and add diced apples. Stir to incorporate all ingredients and serve immediately. Enjoy!